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chichariann · 3 months

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It's weird to read people's post about how they hate this episode cuz

The lack of a zebra

Already knowing what the lotus casino is a trap

Grover being the only one who got trapped

The gang being "too smart"

Luke's mom's expositioh

Lack of action

The deadline passing

4 pearls

Episode is mostly dialogue

Idk. Honestly but heres what I thought as the episode went on...

Very long post. Read the red text if u just want points

Okay, they suspect the wrong person to be the thief (typical detective trope - still fits)

Cute grover and percabeth banter

They already know about the lotus flowers. Makes sense as there are 3 greek myth knowledgeable kids there. At least on of them should know.

They split up. Bad idea

The pair are being cautious

Grover is gone now

Percy and annabeth are searching for hermes so makes sense they'd be at the casino area. I dont see how they could be trapped—nop they already were the moment they stepped in

May Castellan exposition. Okay, revealing the premise of being a seer but not telling us what happened to her as a result is good. Without context from the books, we now know that something's happened to his mom and we do not know except for Luke blaming Hermes for it

Hermes parenting talk - this happens in Sea of Monsters but its nice to at least see a contrast of how he's gonna feel pre-betrayal vs post-betrayal.

Poseidon was the one who warned hermes about trying to be close to luke. Contrasting Poseidon, now, wanting to meet Percy

They past the deadline - what does this mean???

They almost forgot Grover but eventually finding him

Grover started this episode saying that his friends would never understand his personal quest to one day save the natural world, and here he is now, memories wiped except for what he wants to do with his life. And percy understands and is hopeful for him

Hermes taxi scene was hilarious

Percabeth moment

Teleport to Santa Monica

Percy meets the Nereid who tells him that theyd passed the deadline

Percy still wants to finish the quest 1) to save his mom 2) get the bolt 3) stop a war

4 PEARLS???

What I'm taking from this:

There were A LOT of changes to how this scene played out in the books. I like that the kids are smart. I like that Grover got to tell Percy about his personal quest even if it was just a glimpse of it.

Should there have been a Zebra? MAYBE. I wouldve loved to see Percy talk to em but its not exactly plot relevant. Do I wish they had gotten trapped by just playing games? Yeah, but then how would they get to talk to Hermes. They would've just forgotten why they were there in the first place. Do I wish there was more action? No, not really. Do I wish the kids had flaws? THEY ALREADY DO. Grover got trapped by his own desires and personal goal over the quest he was on. Percy and Annabeth may not have shown their flaws this episode but... They already had in the past episodes. Maybe they shouldve but Im not mad that they're just... There.

I actually love that they're past the deadline and Percy has 4 pearls. Cuz it makes us wonder what would happen next. I think as book fans, we pride ourselves of knowing what happens next. Immune to any surprise. But when we do, there are 2 reactions: 1) intrigue and worry and unfortunately common, 2) despising the changes. I fall under number 1. I like that I dont know what could happen next. I know how it SHOULD go but I like that Rick is still surprising us despite knowing what could happen.

I like that we get Hermes parenting moments in this episode. Because instead of learning a sliver of why Luke betrays Percy at the end of the season at the last episode, we get a bit of exposition into his early life.

Annabeth says not to talk to Luke about his dad

Something happened to his mom and Luke hates Hermes for it

Hermes is keeping his distance because he knows that whatever he does, he's gonna end up hurting Luke

All of this sets up what will happen not just later in the books, but LATER IN THE SERIES. Rick wrote The Lightning Thief without any concrete idea of how the later books will play out. NOW HE DOES. So it makes sense to give us a way to understand Luke. To know why he makes the final decision in the book.

I would have found it weird if the gang went on the quest, got back to camp, got a sliver of Luke's opinion of the gods, then betrayal. NONE OF US WOULD UNDERSTAND. We get that he hates the gods but we won't know why. Now we do. By giving us all this material to work with, it gives its viewers the opportunity to really think, if you were in his shoes, would you have done it too? Would you be like Ethan or Chris, and joined him in that rebellion? I definitely could.

Because I for one would know that when I first read the books then reread it after, I would never even think about joining him given the context of the first book. We really only understand why he betrays the gods at like... The 5th book. When we finally get his backstory. Throughout the series, it has just been Percy hating Luke and being annoyed that Annabeth was so forgiving of him. Then on the last book, we finally get the backstory. Because, when you write in first person perspective, you cant give backstory IF the narrator is not talking to the character or is at the place where it happens. Throughout the whole series, Percy never thinks about what pushed Luke to make his decisions until, Nico had to bring Percy to where it all started. IN THE LAST BOOK. IN THE 5TH SEASON. THATS WHEN WE FINALLY GET TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES LUKE CLICK.

It brings Luke out of the characterization of being someone who hates the gods and wants to overthrow them cuz they dont care about his kids. To someone who was abandoned and ignored by his father. To someone who is a victim to the gods' rules and their world (his mom). I kinda understand why he is the one leading the war here. Its cuz he's experienced one of the worst things that could happen to a demigod. Losing his mom. Getting ignored by his dad. Undervalued by the gods.

THIS ENTIRE SEASON HAS JUST BEEN SET UP FOR LUKE'S STORY. BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW... THAT IN THE LAST BOOK, RACHEL TELLS PERCY THAT HE IS NOT THE HERO OF THIS STORY. HE IS NOT THE ONE TO STOP THE WAR. LUKE IS THE HERO AT THE END OF THE SERIES. AND IT WOULD'VE BEEN WEIRD IF WE NEVER GET TO UNDERSTAND WHY UNTIL.... THE LAST BOOK.

#percy jackson episode 6 #percy series #percy jackson spoilers #lotus casino #luke's character has always been interesting to me and I hate that i only only got interested after reading the last book #i understand that there are flaws in this series cuz like... when will there ever be a flawless series #if u want a 1 to 1 adaption just read the books #one thing i do love about the writing in the series though is love how it sounds like rick's current writing #i feel like im reading trials of apollo or magnus chase or chalice of thr gods or the sun and the star #it understands that we know more now and rhe writing adapts to it

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darkfictionjude · 5 months

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god I really hate Orla. I avoid talking shit about IF characters most of the time, I know a lot of authors dislike reading bad stuff about their creations and I understand how that may take a toll on them, but I'm reading all the blog's asks right now and saw you've already given us a free pass, so I gotta say:

I am SO glad that bitch is dead

I can deal with her character haunting the narrative and whatnot but I feel like I'd find her scenes and character arc so insufferable and ennerving if she was alive, I'm just like mentally preparing myself for the flashbacks

Love Sally. I know he's got his flaws and we're not actually THAT close, but he's like the only thing standing between MC and literal, actual "i'll-kill-myself" family hell (like orla being physically abusive w/ mc and no other relative caring enought to stop her?!?!?!)

Percy is on thin fucking ice, but you said he isn't really relevant to the story right now so I'm okay with that

I love this passion anon I read through this whole thing laughing affectionately because it’s very flattering when my characters make people feel things.

Honestly I would never get mad at people not liking Orla because that’s what I knew what happen. That’s the point, you might feel some sympathy for her because it sucks being a woman in a world of impossible expectations but she’s abusive and nothing excuses that. At first she wasn’t like that and you might think awww but by the next flashback you’ll see how quickly she degrades.

On Sally’s part he feels close to mc because he raised them but mc from their part hasn’t made that connection because first of all they still aren’t used to that type of affection because they never got it from their parents and because mc has never revealed themselves to him out of self preservation. He sees mc the kid sibling not mc the person. Which is both of their faults.

Now I love Percy so much but god he is such a dick. And he really has no reason to be (😭) because although parental neglect and lack of affection can cause serious issues in children at a certain point you have to take responsibility for your own actions. Percy does show up a bit in episode 2 but then is kind of background character for most of the season. A few characters are needed more at the tail end.

I’m a writer that although adores her creations will never be blind to their faults nor think that the readers should feel the way I do (much less if I made them purposefully to be awful). As long as it’s respectful towards me I’ll accept y’all hating Orla 😭

#anon asks #the crowns #salvatore #percival #orla #mc crown #we wretched creatures

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idabbleincrazy · 3 years

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Lineage ~ A Missing Scenes Ficlet

Fandom: Angel (Buffyverse)

Rating: T

Pairing: Spangel

Characters: Spike, Angel, Mentioned: Wes, Fred, Dru, Angelus, William, Anne Pratt

Word Count: 1425

Warnings: Angst with a hopeful ending, Mutual pining (kinda), Introspection, Sire/Childe dynamics, Vampire Dynamics/Vampire Family Dynamics, Parental Issues All Around, Missing Scene Fic, 5x07: Lineage, past Spangelus

Summary: Spike muses on his failed attempt at comforting Wes, and finds some comfort of his own from Angel.

A/N: Minor warning of Spike reflecting on his mother's demon and the things she said before he staked her, but not detailed. I really had to think long and hard on what scene i wanted to expand on for this one given that it was a Wesley-based episode with only slightly more interaction between Spike and Angel than the last. Think I did pretty good at bridging the gap to help ease the way into the happenings of Destiny.

Feedback is golden!!!!!

Spike watched Wesley beat a dejected path back to his office, a pang of sympathy aching in his silent chest for the ex-Watcher. His wording may have been off-putting, but he did understand quite well how Wes would have felt for those scant few seconds when he thought he’d killed his father. After all, unlike most vampires, he hadn’t wanted to kill his mother. He’d tried to save her, and had been gut-wrenched when the demon in her turned out to be so wretchedly vile. He had only wanted to give her her health back, show her the kindness a loving mother deserved, only for it all to be thrown back in his face, for the truth of his mother’s long-hidden hatred of him to be revealed once the soul no longer kept her from speaking it.

Was this why the majority of other vampires killed their parents, rather than share the gift their Sires bestowed upon them? Did their lack of a soul finally pull the wool away from their eyes, finally allowing them to see how their fathers had tried to mold them in their image with no thought to what they might want, how their mothers would clutch them to their breast but only to keep them under their thumb, the only way to feel as though they had some semblance of control over anything in their pre-planned lives? Had they finally seen the truth that their parents only loved them so long as they remained in line, kept their heads down and did as told? Less and less fledges bothered to seek out their parents for their first kill these days, but Spike had put it down to the fact that Sires barely bothered to stick around long enough to see them fight their way from the dirt, let alone order them to kill off their family.

He had once figured it was a rite of passage, from one life to the next; scratch out your old family to begin again with your new. Because that’s what your Sire was, along with anyone else of the shared bloodline, family. Any other Childer they still kept with them and their own Sires, if they had stuck around, were family. Near pack-like in their devotion, and with similar pecking orders, each Clan had a duty to their blood, and so, he had always figured each fledge had been told to rid themselves of any mortal ties as a show of dedication to their new life, an act of fealty. Maybe he’d been wrong, maybe he was just one of the few who had been fooled into thinking they had actually been loved by their parent. Drusilla had never thought to order him to kill his mother, had never explained the deeper meaning of it. And by the time he had met Angelus, the mishap had already fled his mind, tucked away as just another tragic loss, and he never thought to ask.

Spike sighed, shaking himself from his thoughts. Any more brooding, and he’d start turning into Angel. Lord knew he did enough of that for the both of them.

Spike decided it was worth a check-in with his Grandsire; knowing him, he had probably done the same thing he had in an awkward attempt to comfort Wesley, calling forth the remembrance of killing his own father once he had risen from the grave. At least the pillock was talking to him again, instead of turning him away with a wordless look or grunt, or ignoring his presence all-together. He still couldn’t quite figure out the whole cold-shoulder stint, and was anxious to keep it from happening again. He was after all, family. The only one left who he could still turn to. Family had always meant too much to William for his own good, and Spike was just the same, no matter the years between the two lives. Angelus had treated him like family, much as any vampire could, and that bond still smouldered there, regardless of all the pain and anger of their past. Too deep to smother even with a pair of souls between them. Odd, that even as a not-quite-a-ghost, those feelings lingered, bolstered even, by this new level of loneliness that came with his intangibility.

He floated through the closed door of Angel’s office, and as expected, found him staring out the window, lost in thought.

“Can feel you brooding from all the way out in the lobby, mate. Take it you tried to comfort Percy too, eh?”

“Yeah,” Angel spoke softly, not turning from the view as Spike sidled up alongside him. “Don’t think it worked very well. Killing your father in a hatred-fueled bloodlust isn’t exactly the same as thinking you killed your father to protect someone you care about.”

“Guess not. Don’t worry, Peaches. You’re not the only one with egg on ‘is face. Told him ‘bout me mum. There’s a bit of info he probably never got from all those books at the Academy.”

Angel huffed a quiet laugh, turning to look over at Spike. There was an odd sadness in his eyes as he regarded his insubstantial Childe. Spike felt almost as though he were standing in another ghost’s cold-spot as his Grandsire considered him, a shiver running down his spine.

“You always were more human than demon, weren’t you William?” Angel ignored the look Spike gave him at the use of his old name. “You tried to save your mother, instead. I’m sorry that didn’t work out for you the way you had hoped.”

“Nah, worked out for the better, in the end, didn’t it? Angelus woulda had a field day takin’ the mickey out of me for it, straight away. A fledge with mummy issues. Do wish the demon in her hadn’t shown itself to be quite so crass though. Took a while to shake that off.”

Angel frowned, knowing all too well what Angelus would’ve done. How he would have tormented the boy to no end, used his mother to bring him to heel, only to stake her right in front of him. He found himself wishing yet again that he could reach out and actually touch Spike, the demon in him wanting to provide some paltry comfort to the melancholy Childe beside him.

“There’s a reason why fledges aren’t meant to Sire anyone. Whelps, either. Had Dru been thinking clearly, she would have thought to forbid it. The turn, it doesn’t work out right if the Sire isn’t at least close to master status. I’ve heard tales of it going even worse than your attempt. What your mother became, wasn’t her. A demon that unfit would have taken even the purest love and twisted it.”

Spike was grateful he couldn’t cry in this ghostly form, his eyes stinging with the unshed tears. He focused his thoughts and reached out to lay his hand over Angel’s where it rested against the back of the couch, his lips curling up into a sad smile.

“Thanks, Grandda. Not sure how much I really believe that, but thanks all the same. Reckon it provided me more comfort than either of us gave Head Boy.” Angel huffed again and looked down at their hands. Spike gave his fingers a squeeze, his soul lifting a bit as he saw Angel register the feeling with a flutter of his eyelids. “Saw Brain Girl headed over to ‘is office, maybe she’ll do a better job at it than us, yeah?”

“Hmm, hopefully. Fred’s usually pretty good with that stuff.”

Spike pulled his hand away and made to leave, not wanting to wear out his welcome so soon as he’d regained it.

“Guess I’ll be off then, let you get back to your musin’.”

“Spike.” Spike paused mid-turn, his head tilted in confusion. Angel rolled his eyes to diffuse his own nerves. He spent weeks keeping his Childe at a distance and figured they could both do with a bit more of each other’s company; he knew how much the boy hated being alone so much. “You can stay, really. I can brood just as easily with you here.”

Spike scoffed and returned to his spot, this time his hand merely resting on the couch next to Angel’s, unwilling to push his luck. He may not quite be walking on eggshells with his Grandsire, but he could feel how fragile their companionship still was. He could make do with the silence for now if it meant they were taking a step closer to what they were before.

“Ta.”

~~~~~

@thewhiterabbit42 @prose-for-hire

#angel: ts fanfic #buffyverse fanfic #spike/angel #spike #angel #missing scene fic #pining

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stretchjournalemerson · 3 years

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Everything Stays

By Mila A.

*names of some characters have been changed.

When my parents sat down my 8 year old self and told me that my hamster had died, I just looked at them. “Oh…” I said after a while. “Can I get a new one?”

I remember them looking at each other with a concerned and surprised look on their faces. “Aren’t you sad?” My dad asked. I gave a quick answer of “yes” and went back to my room.

When my dad pulled my 10 year old self out of the children center at my moms work to tell me that Grandpa had died, I just stood there. “Oh… can I keep playing here?” Is all I said. He said I couldn’t, and that we had to go see mom. My mom and dad hugged and cried in the dingy cafe kitchen at Golds Gym as I stood and watched, their grief beyond my understanding.

Death terrifies me. Not of it happening to me, but of what it does to the people around it. It changes everything, making a home in its witnesses' hearts forever. It’s helpless and powerful and controlling, and I hate it. I was intensely close with my grandpa, a rugged, bearded sailor with a beautiful house and farm in Long Island. He was a veteran and stuck to his intense beliefs about manhood and respect like they were life and death. I was close with him, but I refused to feel his death. I believed that to feel it would mean that I accepted it.

No death is easy, but I wish I could say Grandpa’s death was a simple one: a funeral, family bonding, a grieving period, and coming to terms with the death as you continue on with your life. I wish I could look back on my grandpa's death with only happy remembrance. I wish that his death hadn’t altered the entire course of my childhood. But death is death, afterall. Maybe there is no such thing as a simple one.

During the funeral process we were staying at Grandpa’s house with his wife, Edith, and their young daughter, Ella. Edith is not my biological grandma, and is a decent amount younger than Grandpa. Their daughter was only a few years older than me at the time of his death. Their house was beautiful, with intricate stone walls and high vaulted ceilings. During what came to be my last time in the house, I overheard a whispered conversation between my parents. Much of the conversation went over my head, but I heard mentions of calling a lawyer. I quickly scrubbed the conversation from my brain in hopes that nothing more would come of it. I didn’t tell anyone, not even my brother, in hopes that not talking about it would keep it in some far away land separate from reality. This didn’t work, however, and the legal battle started when we got home from the funeral. My parents didn’t talk about it with me, but I could tell it was serious. All I knew is that Edith had changed my grandpa’s will so that she got everything and we got nothing.

Edith had always been a confusing figure in my life. I couldn’t pinpoint an exact reason as to why, but I always felt watched when around her, as if she was looking for a reason to dislike me. It was her and her daughter, and my family and my grandpa. They weren’t a part of our family and never seemed interested in joining. I never knew anything about her life, what she did, or how she met my grandpa. I had no real reason to expect it, but I wasn’t at all surprised by her betrayal. I also never learned the reason behind it. Was she a scared widow who didn’t know how to get by without her husband, or were her actions completely based on greed? I never really cared about motive. No matter what, her actions were unredeemable to me.

The main attraction of this story happened three years later. The legal battle was in full swing until Edith and Ella went missing. The two had told friends they were going on a trip yet didn’t return. Two missing women and a dramatic legal battle? The media had a field day. News sites from all over began covering the disappearance with reporters contacting my aunt and mom daily. I was 13 at the time and had my first phone, which was my mom's old one. Since the phone number was still registered as hers, I received many of the phone calls from reporters trying to make sense of the situation. I even received a voicemail from Good Morning America inviting us onto the show.

Even three years after his passing, I still wasn’t feeling my grandpa’s death. I also wasn’t registering the fact that my family was. I remember telling my mom about the call from Good Morning America, expecting her to find it as crazy and exciting as I did. Instead, she just looked at me for a few seconds and told me to delete the voicemail. She didn’t reply to any reporters or read any of the articles being written about our family, and I didn’t understand why. I realized later that to my grieving mom and aunt, this wasn’t a crazy kidnapping story but instead a reminder of who they lost to death and greed.

The situation didn’t last very long. It was revealed that the two hadn’t been injured or kidnapped as many had speculated but were in hiding instead. They came back and the legal battle continued. Two years later Edith disappeared again but the media had grown bored at that point. She came back, wrote a poorly rated book about the situation, and continued with the legal battle. Another year and the battle was over. We won mostly everything, including the multi-million dollar house in Long Island and an expensive car.

It wasn’t until after the legal battle was done that I started to come to terms with what happened. My mom told me that we were selling his house and the farm he and Edith owned nearby. My heart sunk as I thought about all the memories that were being sold away. Some of my happiest memories come from Long Island, where he had lived. Grandpa’s house always smelled old, but not in a bad way. There were stone walls and animal furs and a grand piano. I would sit on his leather couches and reread Percy Jackson over and over again. I would get in everyone's way when the family made pancakes in the kitchen. I would wander the farm for hours, breathing in the sour smell of the horse stables. I’d chase barn cats around in hopes of befriending them. I’d sit and watch the ducks on the farm pond and create stories about which ones were in love with each other. That farm was my playground; it was all a young girl could want. Those were my years of childlike wonder.

Grandpa was in the background of each of these memories, completely inseparable from the best years of my life. He'd be reading a book next to me in his recliner, or in the farm with me feeding the animals. The loss of the house and farm is what made me realize how significant of a loss Grandpa’s death was. The fact that I would never be back to the foundation of my childhood reminded me that I would never again see the man who made my younger years so great in the first place.

For a while after this realization, I was bitter. I wondered if I would still be able to go to the house and farm if Edith hadn’t caused all the drama that she did. I resented her for causing division after my Grandpa's death instead of unity. Her selfishness made my family’s grief a spectacle, and her actions drew out the mourning process for years.

Out of everything, my journey towards acceptance was sparked by an Adventure Time song. It came after a 7 episode mini-series called “Stakes,” where the character Marceline thinks about her past and her life as an immortal vampire. Her attempt to cure her vampirism causes her past to come back and threaten the lives of her and her friends. After she goes on a journey of growth and reflection she defeats the evil and accepts the fact that the past is the past and that she will always be a vampire. The song, called “Everything Stays,” plays as the series closes. The chorus goes, “Everything stays, just where you left it / Everything stays, but it still changes / Ever so slightly, daily and nightly / In little ways, but Everything Stays.”

The message of the mini-series and song is that life goes on and changes, but the memories and happiness you once felt always remains. The song made me realize that treating my old happy memories with bitterness does nothing but tarnish them. My childhood happiness exists inside me in the memories I have of my grandpa. The events after my Grandpa’s death did force me out of that childhood wonder, but they didn’t make it disappear all together. “Everything Stays” portrayal of your memories as something tangible and constant inside of you made me choose to hold Grandpa close to my heart.

Death still scares me, and I don’t think there will ever come a time where it doesn’t. Processing my Grandpa’s death did show me I have more control than I thought I did, however. I can control how I hold the memories of those I’ve lost. My memories aren’t symbols of what I've lost, they’re reminders of what once was. They’re happy, innocent, and joyful, even if what happened afterwards was not.

My memories of my grandpa are strictly mine. Not Edith's, and not deaths. I decide what to do with them, and I choose to remember.

Acknowledgements: I’d like to thank Adventure Time for giving me a song that would come to represent the happy memories I have with my grandma, and I’d like to thank Grandpa for being such an inspirational and caring man. I could write 100 more pages about him and his character alone.

#stretch2021 #memoir

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claudiafekete · 3 years

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This is another ordinary story of “how xxx fandoms changed my life” -

- or maybe not. you decide. I want to write it down. trigger warning for politics, discussion of sexual violence, mild gender dysphoria It’s also horribly long. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

When I first came to tumblr, I had just graduated from APH. Short for Axis Power Hetalia. I learned about it in the form of manga. For years it was my everything - I learned what fanfic or fanart meant and I learned the basic online etiquette. As I grew in years, it accompanied me.

Until it didn’t.

Shortly after I fell into solangelo.

It’s a fun story, how I picked up PJO years after years of absence. My brother was whining about something written in Magnus Chase. “What do you think the Norse Gods were going to do to Percy that Annabeth was crying?” He demanded. I expressed my confusion. He kept on with his different theories and I made the decision to look it up online later.

My online search of Percy Jackson’s fate soon revealed something unknown to me before: solangelo. The first canon gay ship I ever knew. Therefore, at the ripe old age of 19, I threw myself into this endless hole called “tumblr” for the first time.

It was the most LGBTQ+ friendly place I had ever been. I joke you not. It was also the place where I was taught not only how a healthy relationship should look like, but also how sex should or could be like. You don’t learn anything healthy about sex in Chinese or Mandarin using fandom, at least during the years I was in them. There were rigid 攻/受(roughly translated as top/bottom) stereotypes that everyone rushed to squeezed their characters into them. A lot of time though both person might ship A with B, they wouldn’t interact because one thought A should top and another thought B should top. Their different topping designation resulted in depictions of the characters’ personalities so dramatically differed that you couldn’t recognize them as the same characters. Other than the refreshing relationship dynamics, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard offered me a chance to take a look at my gender identity. I had known that theoretically non-binary people existed outside of binary gender, but I hadn’t known how one might live as one or describe themselves as one. I’m not trying to claim that Alex Fierro’s story is the only story of non-binary people. I’m trying to say that it was the starting point for me to make exploration and find the label “agender” for myself.

I stayed in APH for 6 years. I had expected to stay in solangelo for longer.

Entered June 2019 with its whispers and anxious demonstrations. Entered folks pouring into streets in Hong Kong. Entered tear gas and facemasks and sticks and a bullet scarcely missing the heart and journalists beaten by police. Entered young students not of age disappearing mysteriously. Entered people dressed in white attacking citizens and not arrested by police. Entered dead bodies that were probably “被自殺 (being suicided)”.

Entered a city falling into the hands of tyrants next to your door, and you didn’t know how to help. You didn’t know what to do with yourself with your clean and spare hands. You were so far away from the frontline, you were angry and helpless and hopeless for that.

It was the first time I witnessed, first-hand, how the Chinese government directed the discussion online, so that it seemed as if there were random mobs who were disturbing the peace of Hong Kong and possibly taking money or being trained by US. “Bullshit. Would there still be so many kids hurt on street if we have received any kinds of training for this?“ Of course, the majority of Chinese people inland wouldn’t hear that. Hong Kong is a former colony. Any calls of outrage toward the present government must be made by disillusioned young people who were unaware of colonization and imperialism.

That was why I took refugee in Good Omens. I needed to run some where to stop myself from scratching myself to blood. I needed to some works for these clean and spare hands to do so that they wouldn’t pick up something destructive, such as a knife.

If the PJOverse fandom had felt the best place on earth, well, the Good Omens fandom lifted me into paradise.

I’ve never seen so much kindness being showed under one tag. The creators and actors were all kind and interacted with the fans in their own ways. We were encouraged to do everything, anything, to build art with it however we liked. We as fans were recognized. We were seen. We were ... cared for. It was overwhelming, in a good way. For that, I would be forever thankful to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and Michael Sheen and so many others in the production. I would be forever thankful to artists who liberated body types and freed the ties between gender expression and genitals. I would be forever thankful for the fantastic creators out there.

Would it seem as if I’ve only cherished the mutuals I met in Good Omens fandom? It wasn’t my intention. There are friends I keep in touch long after I fell out of love with APH. There are mutuals I got to know through solangelo and I feel, I hope that we are friends. Everyone who has chat with me I do my best to remember. (Though I do left conversation in weird places, become so ashamed of my incompetency that I do not continue them.)

What I’m trying to say is, as good as the solangelo fandom was, I still ran into biphobic posts here and there. It was only once or twice – but it was a constant reminder that being bisexual didn’t seem “valid” to some of the other LGBTQ+ members out there. Who cares what cis-gendered, heteronormative people said? Bullets that shot from friendly fire hurt the worst.

Besides, with a large and vibrant fandom like Good Omens, it’s easier to feel less alone and more… seen.

Damn right. Even after writing more that 5000 words in English it is still so easy to fall back into the comfortable nest of mother tongue. I can read simplified Chinese characters as well as the traditional Chinese characters I grow up using. There probably will never be getting the accent right but soundlessly devouring words in front of a screen? I excel at that.

That was what’s happening when the days rolled into January, 2020. I flew to US as an exchange student and exchanged long letters with a young Chinese woman I met in Good Omens fandom. I’ve never felt so alone in life. English as in creative writing has never come more naturally for me. The words burst in my head and arranged themselves freely on screen or on papers. I’ve never felt more hopeful about my writing ability.

The days rolled into March, 2020.

The first time my mom told me to come home over home, I laughed. The second time, I frowned. Before she pleaded me for the third time, I had grabbed a ticket.

I hadn’t imagined the disease plaguing China and its neighboring countries would affect the whole world.

You lived the rest of the story. I fled back to Taiwan.

That was where Doctor Who came in. Or David Tennant. Such a strange time. For fourteen days I was the only living human in the house. I watched Casanova – or was it later? Hamlet definitely came before that. Then I could live with my family again. I handed in my homework and wrote in a different language than the people around me were speaking. My parents were working. My little brother was in school. When there was no one to talk to me I either read or watch Doctor Who to pass the time. I fell for Thirteen. I fell for twissy. Falling fast and hard and completely won over by their glamour.

I started internship. There were some small breaks where I could catch an episode or half, but never as much time as before. I dipped into fandom wiki and found that no matter how much research I did, there would always be details I overlooked simply because I could not afford hours watching all the episodes. No matter how hard I squeezed my schedule for time, no matter how much I devoted myself to the series, it would never be enough.

So I gave up, and let it go. For the first time in quite a while, I willingly gave up something for the simple reason of “I want to live a more comfortable life”.

Came summer. Damp air combined with biting heat and piles after piles of biochemical terms made life agonizing. An ordinary kind of pre-pandemic “agonizing” which felt like a luxury in a world that was ending.

Hong Kong fell.

It was bound to happen. Once I heard protestors fought their way into the legislature I knew, for almost an year I knew, nothing good would come out of this. CCP would never allow its subjects acting out of hand. With such open despise to the authority, CCP would take nothing but a full conquest at the end of it.

See where we are now. As long as you’re “interfering” the political climate “inside” China, it doesn't matter which nationality you hold or where you were or how long it has been since you made the statement. “According to the law”, China can come for you. No, better, it can tell your country to hand you over. What a clever empire. What a graceful empire.

What a horrifying empire.

With the news I spiraled down fast. I kept away from the young Chinese woman I was exchanging letters with, I kept away from any kinds of Chinese social media, and the worst of all, I kept away from Good Omens, for it was sweet and kind and hopeful, for it reminded me of a time where fighting seemed to make a difference. I was empty and exhausted and a husk. Something must come out to fill the void. Someone needed to paint me in colors so that the world wouldn’t notice I was fading away.

I was surprised at who took the brush.

After ten years, the first man I ever have a crush on strolled back into my life.

He was over thirty, but I always pictured him in his early twenties. Dark hair, eyes of grey or silvery blue. Loud laughter that sounded like a bark. Swift and elegant. Intelligent. Prideful. Stubborn. I embraced him as I’ve done ten years ago as a little child.

When I looked past him, I saw someone else.

Worn, weathered, with wry humor. Attentive and considerate. Tortured by the world yet never stop giving out kindness. Countless scars. Grey hair unfitting to his age. I didn’t pay him much attention ten years ago. This time, I looked.

Let me introduce you Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, my very first crush and the man who is too much like my last crush.

2020, a month before Fall semester started, I trekked cautiously, timidly back into Harry Potter fandom.

The fandom of August 2020 was very different from fandom of 2010. The lack of author, for one – it became mandatory to denounce the author’s transphobic statement and other bigotry setting. I’m glad that everyone is doing their best to make it a friendly place for minority groups. Though I’m afraid, by making it a white or black situation with short statements and no discussion, it wouldn’t really help people understand why she is wrong in this. However irrefutable the author’s guilt seems to us, it is not something obvious to those who are unfamiliar with the subjects.

But it does feel good to see blogs and fics with the introduction such as “If you support the author’s transphobic bullshit this place does not welcome you”. It feels reliving.

The second was, I found the type of work I’m actively pursuing changed.

Back when I was young – when I was so little I didn’t even know what the word “fandom” meant – I read Character x OFC and some M x M. During the APH period I read an alarming amount of M x M and countless historical AU. When digging through solangelo, beside the canon divergence stories, simple AU like coffee shop grabbed my attention. Coming out stories were my comforts. The best of Good Omens fics were either in canon verse discussing desires, bravery, humanity and mortality, or setting in an AU with the promise of sweet, fluffy endings. Doctor Who almost always focused on Time and Space. Love was twisted and so often tainted by anger. Monster and god were very alike.

I came a full circle back to the Marauder era, and found myself not looking for heroes, but for young fighters struggling desperately in a seemingly hopeless war. I looked for people who were frightened but never, never ever going down without a fight.

I used to find characters and events unfolding in foreign places, now I want characters who are close to what I am or what I want to be.

---

So, that’s it, my grand journey through multiple fandoms and basically a journey of self-discovery. It’s messy, sometimes painful, but always with so much joy blooming along the way.

Something doesn’t change. I’m still obsessed with words. I’m still a sucker for happy ending. I’m still wishing someone will come and love me the way I need to be loved.

Something does. I stop imagining that some magical power will come into my life and solve everything. I stop looking for others to save me from myself. I start believing that though wounds hurt, some of them do teach us to be a better person.

Long ago, I saw my friends and I as rabbits, without proper weapons to defend ourselves. That wouldn’t do. I thought. For my friends I’ll grow into a snake with fangs to protect them. Maybe I have grown into a snake. Maybe I haven’t. But I do hope I won’t stop fighting for those I love, with those I love.

I hope I won’t give up.

#APH #axis power hetalia #pjo #percy jackson #solangelo #tw: politics #tw: sex mention #magnus chase #magnus chase and the gods of asgard #alex fierro #hong kong extradition bill #hong kong demonstration #good omens #doctor who #tw: personal review of pandemic #harry potter #sirius black #remus lupin #hong kong national security law

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eponymous-rose · 5 years

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E54 (March 12, 2019)

Four years ago today, Critical Role premiered!

This week’s guests are Marisha Ray and Travis Willingham!

Announcements: Gen Con: live show Friday, August 2nd, with a panel on Saturday! VIP Tickets on sale 3/19 at 10 AM Eastern, GA the next day. The cast will also be at ECCC this weekend! The Kickstarter has broken $7m (and more specific goals)!

And it’s time to discuss Episode 54: Well Beneath!

Stats for this episode! It’s been 117 days and 38 episodes since Beau last trained directly with Dairon. Beau has used 132 ki points. Fjord has cast Misty Step 11 times via the Summer’s Dance falchion.

Despite the loss, Beau feels pretty good about her and Jester’s display in the Four Corners; as soon as Dairon revealed herself, “she was like, okay, yes.” Had Dairon been revealed, Marisha suspects they either would’ve had to fight the whole bar... or undertake a second rescue mission.

Fjord’s interested in the ways in which Caduceus interacts with the Wildmother; part of that is wanting a deeper understanding, and part of it is knowing he’s probably going to need some sort of godly help with his current situation.

Marisha has been waiting as a player for Beau to have a bit of a moment of realization about her motivations for doing good; the encounter with Dairon was ideal for that, and they were one of the only people from whom it would really sink in.

Fjord’s reaction is “pure panic” every time he sees orcs. “There’s almost a false expectation with Fjord. He wants to sit down and have a drink with an orc.” He has a lifetime of questions for them---there weren’t a lot of orcs around in Port Damali---but hadn’t realized how many of them aren’t big conversationalists.

Brian: “Does part of Beau respect when someone calls her out?” Marisha: “100%. She’s a bit of a bully, and she knows it, so she’s going to respect people when they push back a bit. I’m not saying that’s healthy.” Brian brings up the contrast with the more archetypal beginnings of the VM characters. Travis points out that they’re still fleshing out the characters. “Why would you want to do everything safely and properly from the get-go?” Marisha brings up how D&D is a safe way to experience that kind of risk-taking and failure, and builds empathy. Marisha: “I didn’t like people like Keyleth---I didn’t undertand them that much---until I was Keyleth for... four years?”

Dairon was the first authority figure “who didn’t give up on Beau and think she was too difficult to be worth investing time into.” Beau deals with abandonment issues with her parents, and that definitely comes through with her interactions with Dairon.

Talks Machina exclusive reveal from Creative Director Marisha Ray: “Turns out, Beau? Uk’otoa the whole time.”

Fjord feels more comfortable in The City of Beasts---despite feeling very out of place---than somewhere like Port Damali, just because the focus is off of him for now.

Gif of the Week: serious table vs. party table.

Is it upsetting to be only 2 HP away from a victory? “Since I didn’t get my mentor captured by the opposing army... I... appreciate it... for story beats,” Marisha says, completely convincingly. “WHY THE FUCK, THOUGH?”

Brian asks if there’s any mistake they made in the show that they still dwell on. Marisha: “My meltdown during the Kraken fight? That was tough.” Travis found that fight especially hard, too. Brian points out that, while there’s a bit of a reset button for mistakes because they come back in to play the game every week regardless, it can also be tough because “this shit lives on the internet”.

Everyone reminisces about the goldfish incident from campaign 1.

Beau’s affirmation to Dairon that she only “kinda” trusts the M9 was accurate, knowing them. She doesn’t think there would be malice involved, but...

“Vandren would often say, ‘Nobody cares. Keep going.’” A lot of Fjord’s tough-love approach to interrogation comes from Vandren (although part of the intimidation was Travis belatedly realizing he has a pretty high intimidation bonus).

Fan Art of the Week: super cute fanart of everyone!

On Beau processing Dairon’s advice to not get attached: “I don’t know, man. Still unpacking that one. That’s going to take a bit.” Brian talks about how that’s an interesting part of the mentor archetype: at some point, you disagree with your mentor, often because of the lessons they taught you. Marisha notes that Beau was a little shocked back at Dairon’s level of contempt for the Krynn; that was the first crack.

Is Fjord actually yelling “Eldritch Blast!” in battle? “You bet your ass he is! He is a Dragonball Z fan, and that attack cannot be loosed without the proper wordage!”

Everyone’s looking forward to a full Beau arc! Marisha’s had time to flesh things out, “but there’s also the truth that Beau’s young; she’s human, in her twenties. Only so much can happen to her.”

Beau didn’t tell Dairon about the Beacon. “Beau is weighing all the information she has, ‘cause she knows it’s valuable.”

Bonus Search for Grog Questions! SPOILERS ENSUE

They both loved revisiting their characters. There’s pictures somewhere of everyone staring at their old character sheets before the show---Marisha in particular had pages upon pages of stuff.

Sir Bertrand Bell was “100%” inspired by Gilderoy Lockhart. Runaway Bride was also on TV, and Travis grabbed some inspiration there as well: “Richard Gere’s a handsome little son of a bitch.”

Marisha and Matt had talked about how they didn’t want the whole one-shot to be “a bummer��, so Keyleth chose to take this trip as a distraction and an excuse for compartmentalization.

Reaction to Liam’s character? Marisha: “Oh, FUCK YOU, bro. Fuck you.” She wasn’t actually mad, but in Keyleth’s eyes, it was a walking reminder.

Travis never thought he’d top the Kevdak moment, and it’s still at the top just for the importance to Grog’s character, but the odds of those natural twenties at the end... “I’ve scored touchdowns that didn’t mean that much to me.” It was the same die he used in the Kevdak fight.

Apart from their own characters, which were they most excited to see again? Percy. The massive damage, the Percy one-liners... Scanlan’s songs. The first time Vex said “Darling.” Pike saying “Grog?!”

Also, Brian desperately wants to host The Bachelor. “ABC, I know you’re listening.”

Brian just sort of wanders off with Henry until Max shuts down the bit. “Okay, that’s it.”

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

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vethyourhalflingmother · 5 years

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second session of not-critical role the quarter-elf campaign was today!

here’s the first session summary if you’ve not read it

and here are the players:

1. Vax’ildan “Bard Boy” de Rolo, (Bard), played by @indigoire

2. Cessair “Cess/Cessie” de Rolo, (Ranger/Alchemist), played by @winking-owl

3. Elaine de Rolo, (Paladin), played by @monkbeauregard

4. Percival “Freddie” de Rolo IV, (Artificer), played by @swiftbell

5. Maeve de Rolo, (Cleric), played by @because-seconds-not-the-same

the theme for this episode was tracking mom and dad through the woods:

-the party started out by taking a long rest just past corinthia’s tower

-cess taught her siblings how to make shelters and fires (only for freddie to later reveal he could’ve made a fire with prestidigitation)

-she also made a nice soup

-bard boy wanted to tell ghost stories. his ghost story was about an ancient de rolo woman looking for her lost children in the woods. the siblings were unimpressed. jokes about it being their grandmother were thrown around, but bard boy insisted that it was another de rolo woman who’d also tragically lost her children

-cess, bard boy, and elaine each took watch for a period of time.

-cess was sharp af. she woke up heavy sleeper bard boy by briefly cutting off his air supply

-bard boy, grumpy from that asphyxiation, was a little less focused

-bard boy kicked elaine to wake her up, and she spent her whole watch mentally cursing her brother

-luckily nothing attacked them during the night

-the siblings had a nice breakfast

-the science siblings (cess and freddie) traded cool shit (freddie made cess some night vision goggles, cess gave freddie a potion that allows him to do damage with nonmagical weapons when a creature has resistance, when the potion is applied to said weapon)

-cess found the path left by their parents again

-the siblings passed a creepy cabin in the woods; bard boy peaked in the window and determined there was nothing of import inside, only paperwork, therefore the siblings did not go inside

-next, the siblings came upon some carnage; they could tell by the bullets and the arrows in the sundered corpses that their parents had fought some undead

-then, bard boy decided to sing a bunch of annoying songs: the song that never ends, 99 bottles of beer on the wall, etc. he did this quite loudly

-attracting the attention of some flashy shocky dangerous lights (will o wisps)

-the wisps fought hard and took a huge chunk out of cess, but between cess’ burning hands, freddie’s thunderwave, and arrows from three siblings at once thru held actions, they were defeated

-accompanied by a clutch bless from elaine and very inspiring songs from bard boy (parodies of country roads and move bitch djkfdhshl)

-after the combat, the siblings heard the sound of distant bells (“like windchimes, if you had fifty plus windchimes in one place”)

-cess remembered the singing blooms, which are clumps of magical flowers that make bell-like noises. it hurts to listen to them at close range, but they can be quieted by distractions.

-bard boy knew it was his time to shine

-he rode on trinket’s back and played mamma mia on his lyre to quiet the meadow. the flowers parted for him, entranced by his song.

-on the other side of the meadow, they lost the trail, and asked trinket to pick it up. trinket, though initially mixed up, led them back through the meadow and in another direction. (this time bard boy played dancing queen)

-once trinket picked up vex’s scent, he bolted with bard boy on his back, nearly leaving the other four siblings in the unsafe area of the meadow.

-four quarter elves who have no athleticism chase after a bear

-freddie had to get on trinket with his brother ( “i don’t like running in the woods” “yeah two things you hate: running and the woods”)

-trinket led them to the edge of the river

-after much debate, bard boy and freddie decided to cross the river on trinket’s back, tie off a rope on the other side. elaine held the other end as they crossed

-trinket tripped midriver (i rolled a nat1 with my vex die for trinket to cross that fucking river..............mother has betrayed her children)

-bard boy managed to keep ahold of the rope, but freddie was almost swept away by the current

-bard boy grabbed freddie by the collar and freddie righted himself enough to catch hold of the rope

-elaine, with help from cess and maeve, managed to pull their brothers to safety

-bard boy tried to have a heartfelt moment with freddie on the shore, featuring a hug

-meanwhile, trinket righted himself and got out of the water on the other side

-elaine misty stepped to the other side and tied off the rope to a tree

-the other four quarter-elves crossed the river on via rope, aided by rope harnesses. thankfully, there were no more mishaps of them falling in the water

-bard boy can cast prestidigitation also. he don’t need no baby brother to do it for him

-the siblings finally, finally found one of their parents after a day an half of searching

-however they had the sense that something was wrong when he didn’t look in their direction despite their unstealthy approach; he seemed to be focused more on something metallic in his hands

-freddie shouted “dad, corinthia says you owe her an apology!”

-percy turned around, and the siblings could see that he was covered in blood, his eyes were entirely white (no pupil, no pretty blue irises), and the veins in his face were bulging unnaturally

-percy smiled and said, “oh, hello children” and held up the revolver animus

#it was a good session i think #i did not think the river would be so tough lol #quoth my players 'rivers are the new doors'#my players are so smart and talented #i love the stuff they come up with #ya bitch could neva #admin dms #admin plays dnd #the quarter-elf campaign #not-critical role #text #long post #also we had a few annoying technical difficulties today #my fucking wifi sucks ass

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annakie · 5 years

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I was traveling Thursday night until this afternoon, so I just finally finished the Dalen’s Closet Oneshot.

Want some thoughts?

Unfortunately, I was traveling for not-happy reasons (saying goodbye to a relative who is very ill) so CR wasn’t really in the forefront of my mind, and I also already had the plans to travel for a couple of weeks. I was in the air when the oneshot started airing. As soon as I landed I pulled up Twitch for a few minutes while waiting to deplane and walking through the airport. I basically saw the minute or so before Scanlan sang the Boring Ballad of Derrig (which was kind of nice because I got a crash course in who Liam was playing) and then the entire Sylas reveal until he threw them off the cliff. Then I walked out of the airport so I turned off Twitch.

I was staying with my parents in their big, nice RV but had bad internet on my phone, so even after they went to bed I didn’t spoil myself. And then the next morning I was waiting for them to wake up I was scrolling through twitter, saw a bunch of mild spoilers and went “Fuck it” and read the CritRoleStats for the last half hour or so of the show. And I cried. At tweets.

Friday and Saturday I managed to watch up to the last hour in bits and pieces, when it was appropriate (before bed, waiting while said relative was sleeping, etc.) I stopped myself when I could tell the battle was starting to get close to ending.

Got home this afternoon, and after eating and settling in I was ready for the end. Went to bed and finished it on my laptop in the dark with a big pile of tissues next to me for the ugly sobbing I knew was coming. I was right.

So there were three acts to it, the pre-rehearsal dinner, the dinner and fight, and the wedding. I thought so much about everything was so great and perfect. I LOVED seeing Tary again, I missed that asshole so much, and Sam did great falling right back into him (I mean we’ll probably get to see him very soon in the Darrington Brigade oneshot which will also be great, can’t wait for that) but I’m so glad he was so included in the wedding.

My heart was full seeing Kima and Allura and Gilmore again, even though we didn’t get to spend much time with them. And getting to check in with Kaylee, too! I’m a little sad that apparently they forgot about her going back to school, but hey, hopefully she does well with Bitcoin. :) Keyleth as the best-man-zilla was fantastic, and I’m so glad they found “jobs” for all of Vox Machina, so they were all a part of the party.

Both Keyleth and Tary’s speeches were SO good. I cheered a little at the Lionette wines namedrop, neat to see a just a teensy little TM9 in our VM oneshot (is Beau alive yet? She’s older than 19, right? I’m kind of wondering if that is foreshadowing or just a cute detail?)

Everyone grilling Derrig about his “intentions” was great, I wish we had a bit more time with him. Obviously Derrig isn’t an option here, but I do hope that SOMEDAY, maybe not yet, but someday, Keyleth moves on and finds love again. She deserves love, if she wants it. I love that he was a VM fanboy and knew about them and was a little dorky about it.

In the battle, once again we just saw the absolute might of Grog. Staying fine during the wine, barely being bothered by being poisoned, tanking multiple high-level creatures and not dropping under 100hp. Yeah he doesn’t have the magic others do, but he’s got the staying power and he’s amazing.

I was 100% not surprised by the Sylas reveal, it felt very obvious to me that he’d be the one to fuck things up, but it was still awesome. I felt so bad for Percy and Vex, Percy had nothing but bad choices and I think he did the best he could with almost no resources. It sucks that Vex died *again* and on her wedding day but even he knew that Pike would be there for her and I think he thought she’d last longer than she did.

The rest of the fight was an unfortunate lesson in splitting the party for half of the players, but everything worked out OK, with Grog basically being the shining star. It was nice of Matt to let Pike’s spiritual weapon bow work for Vex since that is definitely not Rules As Written, but yay for letting Rule of Cool win out, especially for the bride that you just killed after ruining her rehearsal dinner. At least everyone got to do something cool.

OK and then the wedding. The vows were beautiful, and I started crying pretty early on. It’s gotta be a little weird telling your friend you love him and saying wedding vows when your husband is 4 feet from you but wow, both Vex and Percy’s vows were thoughtful and perfect.

Then of course Sam fucking Reigel comes in and just... destroys everyone emotionally. Because that’s what he does, and it was perfect. Like I can’t even... what... how... wow. I would love to know if Sam talked it over with Matt and/or Liam ahead of time. There was also a moment you can see Liam shift into Vax and it sent chills up my spine. I loved that he played Vax just... more alien? Less connected to reality? It felt so true to the character. And I felt like this was the closure that both Vex and Keyleth needed. I love that Vex WANTED Keyleth to have that moment, as well. It felt like both of them, and really all of them, could finally accept it and be at peace now. Or hopefully can be, in Keyleth’s case. (Also, Marisha’s outfit? Amazing. They all looked great but wow.)

Anyway, I went through like ten kleenex from ugly crying. And I don’t know if they’re planning on any more VM oneshots (I know there’s the “VM vs TM9″ thing happening, whatever that is, but this could be the end of the actual story?) I hope it’s not the end. If it is, I can accept it (I mean, we do have the animated series coming up but that’s, you know, a prequel). It feels wrapped up now. But I do still hope just every once in awhile they get together and we get to see it.

I hope that Scanlan catching the bouquet at the end hints that we can eventually get the Pikelan wedding, though we don’t need two wedding oneshots in a row. The ONLY thing really missing for me in this oneshot (there are a few smaller quibbles / “I WANT”s) like the one actual hole was... a serious lack of Pikelan, since that’s my main ship in this fandom. I have some thoughts about their separate bedrooms I think are more deserving of their own post, but there was so little Pikelan in this oneshot that it was like a 9.5 instead of 10 for how much I loved it. But hey, we know what WILL happen. And they’re gnomes. They got time to make it happen. And we did get a lot of Pikelan in the Search for Bob at least.

Anyway, that’s enough rambling. I just had to type out a lot of feelings about SOMETHING, and this was the best place for those feelings.

Can’t WAIT for this week’s episode and seeing Palock!Fjord in action!

#critical role stuff #a lot of feelings about a show about D&D #annakie's critical role stuff

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ettadunham · 5 years

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A Buffy rewatch 4x11 Doomed

aka stop trying to make the apocalypse happen it’s not going to happen

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and go on an impromptu rant about it for an hour. Is it about one hyperspecific thing or twenty observations? 10 or 3k words? You don’t know! I don’t know!!! In this house we don’t know things.

And today’s episode is weird and plot-heavy, but I also don’t hate Riley in it, so we’re going somewhere I guess. It also poses the question whether or not Willow would kill someone for calling her a nerd (it’s a toss-up if you ask me).

So, Marc Blucas is officially in the credits, which also means that this is the first time in the series that the ratio of male to female regulars on the show is 2:1. To be fair, this will also be the last time that happens, as we’ll add Emma Caulfield and Michelle Trachtenberg by next year to the rooster, but it’s wild. This is Buffy, and we have 4 dudes and 2 women in the opening credits. We’re not excelling even by Buffy feminism standards here.

(Catch me talk about the opening credits again in about two and a half seasons with Seeing Red. I mean, there’s really nothing much else to discuss about that episode… right?)

With that out of the way, let’s talk some Riley and Buffy.

I’ve been a bit hard on Riley with my comments so far with this rewatch, but I really want to emphasize how much I don’t hate him here. Which is a low bar to clear, sure, but it shows my own biases and what I do and don’t find acceptable in my male characters.

See, my issues about 4x07 The Initiative were mostly about perspective. We were constantly seeing Buffy through Riley’s eyes in that episode and I kinda hated it. Meanwhile, Doomed puts us mostly into Buffy’s shoes as she’s dealing with Riley, and it’s a remarkable upgrade.

We know Buffy. We understand her past, her trauma and her frustrations. But the wonderful thing that I realized that I also understood where Riley was coming from here. I didn’t agree with him, but I understood.

Because Riley doesn’t know Buffy. And Buffy flat out tells him so. He doesn’t understand what she’s been through, what being a Slayer is to her, who she is as a person… And neither does Buffy know Riley.

(Even though Riley’s like “you know who I am”… no, she doesn’t?? You’ve been dating for like 5 minutes. You don’t know who you are, dude. Just because you have a simplistic view of yourself doesn’t mean that that reflects back everything about you as a person.)

From super subtle lines like Buffy saying that Riley just ‘can’t see her scars’ to her trying to make him understand how different this demon hunting gig is for her… She’s laying it all on him. And we, as the audience who was right there with her on every step on her journey, are all in her corner.

That doesn’t mean that Riley’s wrong entirely. We know that he doesn’t have the full perspective on Buffy, but he also manages to hit some truths there. Buffy does tend to have a gloom and doom mentality. Sure, she has a good reason for it, but she’s also prone to depression and isolation. Sometimes she really needs someone to tell her not to try to go at it alone.

So yeah, you know what? I enjoyed their dynamic. I could live with this for the rest of the season.

The Buffy/Riley relationship and conflict wasn’t the only thing this episode tried to set up though. Hell, it almost felt like an episode 7 with how heavily some of these threads will be mirrored by the end of season four.

Case in point: Spike taunting Xander and Willow about their uselessness to Buffy. He went right to the jugular too, hitting them in their worst insecurities. Xander about living in his parents’ basement and not getting into college, and Willow about her past relationship falling apart and Oz leaving her.

They really are all forgetting that Spike’s a villain with all his comedic shenanigans, huh.

The theme of separation between the Scoobies even comes up in the scene where Willow goes to the party. She’s just awkwardly standing around, waiting for Buffy to show. Which she doesn’t - well, at least not until the murder.

And that’s sort of new. We’ve well established by now that Xander feels left out of the group this year, but Willow and Buffy are now dormmates! They should be in sync and spending a lot of time together, and this is one of the first indications we see of that not being the case.

The scene where Willow finds the dead body in the bed is also weirdly framed, to the level that I totally read that scene wrong, even in this rewatch. Like, is it really just me who thought that Willow went home to her own dorm room and the body next to her was Percy? She was upset about Buffy not showing up, and Percy being a lowkey dick, so I honestly thought that the whole reveal was about whether or not Willow did it.

(Maybe I’m projecting from the future too, but alas…)

Instead as it turns out, she just randomly went into a room and laid down there. (Which is already super unrealistic. A college girl going into a stanger’s dorm room without checking her surroundings first??? I don’t think so.) And the dead guy was just the rando that the monster killed in an earlier scene.

On the other hand, I also feel justified about my weird misreading, because in the upcoming scene, Willow is much more upset about Percy calling her a nerd than the dead guy in the bed??? Man, Willow really hates her high school persona. (Probably because she associates all these negative memories she has about high school in general with who she was, and who she was perceived as by her peers and herself at the time. More on that in a later post I’m guessing.)

Oh, and the apocalypse is here. Again. And everyone’s just so done with it. “It can’t be the apocalypse, we already did that.” Iconic.

Anywho, if you take away one thing from this episode though, it should be this: your belt doesn’t have superpowers. So maybe don’t attach a rope to it and attempt bungee jumping???

That’s just physics and fashion design.

#buffy rewatch 2k19 #btvs talk #btvs

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blind-rats · 6 years

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SPOILER ALERT!

Veronica Mars fans everywhere exploded with excitement at last week’s news that Hulu had ordered a new season of the former UPN/CW mystery drama — and then, they immediately began speculating what the eight episodes will be about. First and foremost, how would they deal with the follow-up books written by Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas?

Yes, books! After Thomas, star Kristen Bell, and most of the major cast members reunited to make a Kickstarter-funded movie in 2014, Thomas wrote two novels, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line and Mr. Kiss and Tell. And based on Hulu’s own description of the upcoming season — which will center on a crime that takes place in Neptune during spring break — it sounds quite similar to Tan Line.

While Thomas has clarified that the new season won’t be an adaptation of either book — rather, it takes place five years after the events of the movie and novels — the two books provide tasty clues about what Veronica Mars might bring back. Let’s dig into both novels and investigate what Marshmallows can expect when the show returns next year.

What’s been revealed about the new season?

Rob Thomas will write the first episode and Kristen Bell will return to headline, but no other cast members have been announced yet. But when Hulu made its announcement last week, it also released a plot description that sounded a lot like The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, the first Veronica Mars spinoff book co-written by Thomas and Jennifer Graham, which finds Veronica solving a crime during spring break.

On Twitter, Thomas described the season as a “hardcore So-Cal noir” that will follow “one big case.” Hulu’s press release about the project offers even more details: “Spring breakers are getting murdered in Neptune, thereby decimating the seaside town’s lifeblood tourist industry. After Mars Investigations is hired by the parents of one of the victims to find their son’s killer, Veronica is drawn into an epic eight-episode mystery that pits the enclave’s wealthy elites, who would rather put an end to the month-long bacchanalia, against a working class that relies on the cash influx that comes with being the West Coast’s answer to Daytona Beach.”

What happens in The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line?

The book is set directly after the events of the movie, which saw Veronica returning to Neptune to help ex-boyfriend Logan Echolls after he’s accused of murder. (By the movie’s end, Veronica and Logan reunited romantically, she lost a job offer at a top law firm in New York, and it looked like she was ready to move back home for good.) In Tan Line, Veronica is in Neptune caring for her father Keith, who is still recovering from a bad car crash he suffered in the movie. She’s in a long-distance relationship with Logan, who shipped out with the Navy on a six-month tour of duty. And she’s taken the lead at Mars Investigations in her dad’s absence. When a spring breaker goes missing, Veronica’s very particular set of skills are called upon to investigate, but as she gets deeper in the case, she’s pulled into a world of crime, money, and drugs that are darker than she’d imagined.

But again, Thomas said the new episodes will not tell the exact story of A Thousand-Dollar Tan Line.

His tweet indicates that the events of both novels will mostly be the backstory for the new season. (In case you’re wondering: Pony is the puppy that Veronica and Logan get in Mr. Kiss and Tell. Also, former Army general Marcia Langdon runs for sheriff against Dan Lamb and wins.) Still, it’s interesting that Hulu’s press release describes a story that’s so similar to Thousand-Dollar Tan Line. Will Veronica ruminate on how this new case bears a remarkable resemblance to the one she investigated five years earlier? Could some of the same players be involved?

Which longtime characters might return?

On Twitter, Rob Thomas has already announced that a handful of cast members will return alongside Kristen Bell, including Jason Dohring, Francis Capra, Percy Daggs III, and David Starzyk — with a promise that more casting news is “on the way.” Given that, plus the plots of the movie and the two books, here are the most likely returning characters and how they’d fit into Veronica Mars now.

Logan Echolls (confirmed to return): Veronica’s past and current boyfriend, played by Jason Dohring. He’s a Navy pilot who’s mostly absent from the first book, except for the occasional Skype session. They get a puppy named Pony in the second book before he’s called away for another tour.

Wallace Fennel (confirmed to return): Veronica’s best friend, played by Percy Daggs III. He’s a teacher at Neptune High and still does occasional investigating favors for her, like posing as a drunk college kid to get into a party.

Weevil (confirmed to return): One-time gang leader turned Veronica’s friend, played by Francis Capra. He and Veronica left things on bad terms at the end of Mr. Kiss and Tell when he dropped a lawsuit against Sheriff Lamb that Keith had championed.

Richard Casablancas (confirmed to return): The father of Veronica’s classmates Dick and Cassidy, played by David Starzyk. In the original series, Veronica discovers he ran a multi-million-dollar scheme and he was sentenced to prison for a year.

Cindy “Mac” Mackenzie: Veronica’s friend and computer whiz. In the first book, she takes a tech job at Mars Investigations and continues to be V’s, right-hand woman.

Keith Mars: Veronica’s dad. In the first book, he’s recovering from a car crash. In the second, he helps old friend Marcia Langdon take down Dan Lamb.

Dick Casablancas: Logan’s best friend and (sort of) charming dirtbag who lives up to his first name. He makes a cameo at a party in the first book but is only referenced in the second.

Leo D’Amato: Veronica’s former boyfriend. He appears in the movie and Mr. Kiss and Tell as a detective in the San Diego Police Department.

Vinnie Van Lowe: The slimy rival investigator that everyone loves to hate. He appeared in the movie, but neither of the books.

Cliff McCormack: The wise-cracking lawyer that both Veronica and her dad rely upon throughout the series, movie, and books.

Lianne Mars: Veronica’s mom, a former alcoholic. She didn’t appear in the movie, though she was on the show and recurs through the books when she returns to her daughter’s life with a new husband and son in tow.

The books also introduce a number of new characters, who could potentially appear in the fourth season. They include Marcia Langdon, the new police chief since Neptune has incorporated; Tanner Scott, Liane’s husband; and Hunter Scott, Veronica’s half-brother.

Where’s the LoVe?

All right, let’s get to the important stuff: What is the state of Veronica and Logan’s — a.k.a. LoVe’s — relationship? In Mr. Kiss and Tell, there was a lot of cute LoVe-y dovey stuff, including Veronica and Logan living together and getting that aforementioned puppy. But then Logan was shipped out with the Navy again and Veronica’s case brought her back into frequent and flirtatious contact with Leo. Still, the second book ended with Veronica video-chatting with Logan and declaring, “I’m here.”

Since Thomas revealed that the new episodes begin five years after the movie, it’s anybody’s guess as to how their relationship has developed during that time. Has the distance worn the couple down? Was Veronica tempted by the very handsome, very present Leo? Or maybe Veronica and Logan got hitched and had a baby? It’s hard to imagine Jason Dohring won’t reprise his role for the new season, but if he doesn’t, perhaps Logan will be stuck on another tour of duty.

Whatever happened between them since Veronica Mars last hit the airwaves, it’s safe to say it will be another dramatic chapter in the show’s long-burning romance. In the words of Logan himself: “You and me. Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined and bloodshed. Epic.”

#Veronica Mars #Rob Thomas #Kristen Bell #Veronica Mars Revival #Logan Echolls #VMars #SPOILERS

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loquaciousquark · 6 years

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E18 (May 15, 2018)

@eponymous-rose is out tonight, so here I am instead, tiny-footed in her enormous...shoes? This metaphor’s escaped me.

Preshow is the crew filling a whiteboard with chat-directed drawings. It includes Mollymauk covered in pyramids, Jester’s lollipop, and Caleb on fire. You know, as it happens. Liam smiles very convincingly next to it.

Anyway, tonight’s guests are Liam and Sam, who arrives late and brings his Emmy. This fool.

Tonight’s announcements: new website! Critrole.com. It’ll have updates, news, events, and Sam suggests a daily vlog from BWF. The hardcover version of VM Origins will have its launch date announced this Thursday morning on said website. Liam pulls out a copy of the thing and it looks great. Also, everyone except Liam will be participating in the Stream of Many Eyes livestream in LA June 1-3, which will include multiple live D&D games. More information and tickets here.

Crit Role Stats! Nott currently has the most kills of the MN with 16. Her HDYWTDT on the hill giant puts her at 5, tied with Molly for the most.

Caleb has cast the most spells of the group with 146. The next closest is Jester with 100. Liam: “It’s that ritual casting, yo.” However, Jester’s cast a larger variety of spells (22 to Caleb’s 20). This doesn’t include the Wand of Smiles (Caleb: 1, Jester: 4).

Sam is still stuck in character creation in Pillars of Eternity. Liam calls BS since he asked how to walk, but Sam reminds him you walk before going into the CC. He’s spent an hour and a half making a Cipher. BWF made Pike, but picked the wrong voice. Liam suggests picking Grog’s voice in his remake. Liam played the opening nine times and eventually had to reinstall the whole thing to unlock the VM portraits. Sam has a traumatic realization that he has the same problem & will have to reinstall as well.

Caleb is strongly regretting entering the Victory Pit due to the exposure it’s gotten them. He didn’t think there would be any bigwigs this far out, but he was “shocked” to find he was mistaken.

Nott isn’t happy with the notoriety either, but she’s conflicted; “she enjoys the supportive glances of her comrades, her teammates, but every once in a while is reminded other people are watching too.” Both agree the afterparty went badly.

Re: the Trent namedrop, Liam: “I can’t believe he’s here, this far out... I didn’t take in a lot of what happened for the next twenty minutes.”

During a discussion of distractions during an episode, Sam talks about how he and Laura were drawing a shared picture last episode whose arms and legs became dicks over the course of the episode.

Nott was surprised to find she was of value to the team during the hill giant fight. She’s still getting used to her abilities, but being so small and taking down something that big was a confidence boost. “She’s super jittery and nervous about everything and she drinks to compensate. I think this is going well for her, helping the team.”

Frumpkin happened post-asylum, so there was no danger of Trent recognizing him. Liam: “He was tapped for school at 15, meets Ikathon at 16 & goes with Astrid & Aeowulf, goes home for the first event with his parents about a year later, burns the house at age 17, and then was in the asylum until age 28. He ran and was totally alone when he got out; the first step was a cat, the second step was a goblin, and the next step was a group.” Sam: “Your guy was institutionalized for over a decade? I should reconsider who I travel with...”

Nott doesn’t necessarily believe Yasha is a spy, but she doesn’t know why she keeps disappearing or what she’s doing. She doesn’t even know what Yasha is, just that she’s super powerful and scary.

GIF of the week: @trisail. It’s the Trent reveal moment with overlays of Caleb shorting out. Heh.

Lengthy discussion about the “leave the table” moment. Liam found the scene super satisfying as it played out and doesn’t regret it. However, it’s a game for his friends first and foremost, and the primary purpose must be to entertain his friends and make them laugh and gasp, and this way robbed them of their reactions. He doesn’t think there would have been an issue with them being at the table--they’re all respectful audience members, and they’ve all been present before at other reveals. Plus, his story is very complicated, so “what am I gonna do? Spill it out all over again for Fjord, for Jester? It just didn’t seem feasible.” Caleb’s story has been in Liam’s head for a long time, so he was glad to get it out. Liam got the most responses on Twitter ever after his first tweet that he’d told his friends to go back and watch.

None of the other cast members aside from Ashley & BWF have watched the Caleb scene yet. Ashley found it pretty crazy and “a lot.”

Liam reminisces about seeing Vex’s heartbreak at Percy’s death and Grog’s privy conversation with the sword, even though he wasn’t part of those scenes, and wishes he hadn’t excluded his friends from his reveal. “I didn’t get a cat o’nine tails out of Taliesin’s closet and flagellate myself, but...a small course correction.”

Caleb’s reveal clarified some things about how Nott views Caleb; neither Sam nor Nott are dumb, and they both knew that he was suffering from something terrible. This just confirmed that & fleshes out the details. Nott’s views of Caleb’s victimhood, and her wishes that he no longer have to suffer, have not changed.

Liam points out that the intimacy of the show has changed over time, allowing them to pursue deeper conversations between characters instead of just the wacky hijinks they started with. As an example, he points out the difference between the first Liam/Keyleth scene where people hid behind hats vs. later Percy/Vex scenes where everyone was respectful and quiet. Sam enjoys that they can now have fun-fun (getting out of tricky situations and fighting together) alongside adult-fun (deep conversations and new relationships). BWF points out they’ve spent more time with these characters already than a full 5-season primetime show.

Sam became addicted to playing D&D precisely because of the level of depth you could reach with these characters, which you can’t achieve anywhere else.

In the thirty minutes before the Caleb conversation, Liam was wildly conflicted about what he was going to do (reveal everything, reveal only parts, lie). At the same time, “it’s killing [Caleb] to keep it all bottled up,” and even though Caleb’s really smart, he’s not a mastermind, and it may have still been too soon. However, Liam was also ready to stir the pot--he’s getting antsy that so many backstories haven’t been revealed, even though they’re theoretically a sixth of the way through the show. He also points out that Caleb has achieved his goal of finally getting into the library, so there’s nothing keeping him from leaving at any time. “That’s Caleb talking, not Liam.”

Laura & Travis interrupt to Facetime in & pretend they meant to call BWF’s mom for Mother’s Day. It’s pretty darn funny, and they confirm they totally watch this show from home when they’re not on it. Nerds.

Sam also takes a moment to loudly, angrily remonstrate Laura & Travis for taking pho home to eat. “You do not take pho home to eat. You eat it at the restaurant. It does not travel.” Discussing Sam’s food snobbery, Liam reminisces about how proud he was of some homemade blueberry pancakes he made after his kids were born. He shared a picture of them with Sam, who then sent back a picture of pancakes Sam’s wife made that “looked like something out of a magazine, there were raspberries, and everyone was like OHHHH, OHHHH, and I was alone and tired in my kitchen.” Sam: “I’m the worst person.”

Sam had guessed that Caleb’s backstory had something to do with fire, but had thought maybe he’d accidentally hurt/killed someone. “It’s pretty bad to accidentally hurt someone with fire. It’s super bad to intentionally kill someone with fire who is related to you.”

Caleb has no idea what happened to the other two children. The last thing he remembers before hospitalization was the house. Liam still thinks of Caleb as young since he’s essentially lost eleven years.

Sam asked Liam why he wanted to play someone so dark after Vax instead of someone more lighthearted. Liam’s just attracted to these kinds of stories; “this is what I want to do with my spare time.” He’s fine with other people being jovial instead of him.

Fanart of the Week: This gorgeous thing by Wesley Griffith. Apparently, Travis said this is his favorite representation of Fjord so far.

Nott doesn’t think she can do powerful magic; she’s just excited to be able to do small things. Liam’s dying to know Nott’s backstory: “She’s like a little bag of knives who’s hyperintelligent and drunk.”

Sam pauses to plug a new organization, Nerds Vote, a nonpartisan encouragement to register to vote.

In re: Beau’s reaction to Caleb’s reveal, Liam discusses his other options. He thinks Fjord is very intelligent but an unknown who might be evil. Jester he thinks would be the most likely to be repulsed or run away. Yasha’s her own kind of stranger who always leaves. Molly’s a 24/7 party animal that’s wildly different from Caleb. He feels Beau was the best choice; Beau had something he wanted anyway (and had shared a secret with him) so he didn’t have second thoughts acceding to her request.

Even though Nott has forgiven him, Caleb’s not looking to be forgiven or have anyone pat him on the back. He doesn’t believe “it’s going to be okay or it’s not his fault.” He knows he’s absolutely to blame and there’s a massive degree of self-loathing, so Liam feels Beau was the absolute perfect person to tell since she was going to be dry, pragmatic, and real. “No fluff, all...elbow-corners.” He didn’t want someone to coddle him and she was the perfect person for that.

He recognizes that they’re both Empire kids and share that history. Caleb also has been paying attention to everyone, and he feels Beau is clearly not happy with the Empire regardless of what she says, which aligns with Caleb’s feelings as well. Liam thinks it was a great choice to break it to her first, & he feels it wouldn’t have been fair to exclude Nott if he were to finally spit it out.

Nott’s not concealing anything from anyone about her backstory; it’s just that no one’s asked. Caleb never asked about anyone’s backstory because he didn’t want return questions.

Sam likes Liam’s story choices and calls them brave.

The original idea for Caleb stretches back so far that Liam thought of the name Astrid even before Matt introduced Pike’s cousin, Astrid. When they started discussing character creation for the new campaign, Matt okayed repeating the name. The German accent came much later in character creation (i.e. after the development of backstory). To Liam, Caleb’s backstory reads more like KGB or Pet Murderer over Hitler Youth, since as far as he knows it was only the three children involved, not an army.

Of the choices available to the group, Sam most wants to go back to the Gentleman. Liam wonders if Pumat has skeletons in his closet. (How many closets does Pumat have, I wonder?)

Sam segues into his difficulty remembering the difference between the Soltryce Academy and the Cerberus Assembly since they both have “C-A” sounding names. Liam: “Look, folks, he can either be really funny, or he can know the details.” Sam: “And that’s... where Ikathon is? And then there are the Halls of Erudition? There are too many things!” I have never identified more with him than this moment right here.

I have a brief, violent heart attack when an accidental keypress navigates me away from this page and I think I’ve lost it all. False alarm, please reduce heart rate to under 100bpm.

After Dark: Emmy and a lovely mace for Pike Edition

Liam elucidates the difference between a mace and a morningstar. Sam just about knocks his Emmy off the shelf getting the aforementioned mace for demonstration.

Sam’s asked which 90s Disney Afternoon show his character would like best. Sam: Darkwing Duck, Talespin, Gummy Bears, Fraggle Rock. Liam: Duck Tales.

Does Nott regret saying she’s Caleb’s mother after knowing what he did to his last mom? Sam: “Oh, wow. I didn’t even think about that.” Liam: “How could you not? I’ve been thinking about it for weeks!” Sam: “Well, it’s not like he’s a Terminator-style hunter of only mothers...” Finally--no, it hasn’t crossed Nott’s mind, but Sam will inform her soon.

The ultimate food sin for Sam--transporting pho is pretty high on his list, but he decides on ten-dollar wine. (Two-buck chuck, you know what you’re getting, swillwater flavored like wine; ten-dollar wine is actual wine that is terrible.) He recommends splurging for the fourteen-dollar wine. Sam loves cheap Chinese but Panda Express doesn’t count as Chinese. “No good Chinese restaurant ever advertises, ever.” Salted vs. unsalted butter is also a big thing. This is all because of Sam’s wife, he says; Liam points out that a year after they first met, when Sam moved to LA, Liam went over to Sam & Sam’s wife’s terrible apartment where they made very fancy salmon wrapped in that clear waxy rice paper stuff I can’t remember the expensive name for.

Caleb had very little left offensively in the hill giant fight. All he had was Sleep and Shield and a weak cantrip, so all he could do was gamble and guess on the timing. When he first cast it, Sam told Laura it was a big mistake.

A viewer question tries to goad Liam & Sam into a tickle fight. Liam threatens BWF with the mace instead.

Sam agrees to grow a small beard for Liam’s birthday, a little “chin music.”

And that’s all for the night! Is it Thursday yet?

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #brian wayne foster #liam o'brien #sam riegel #long post for ts

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